Chapter 1891: Extremely Perilous
Along with Zhang Ruochen, the Martial Realm Prince was also frozen in place, but for the Martial Realm Prince, this was actually a good thing—at least it saved his life.
Xia Wenxin, Nine-Eyed Heavenly King, and the others appeared and first lifted the confinement on the Martial Realm Prince.
Crimson blood flowed back, and the Martial Realm Prince's body, which had been severed in two, quickly reconnected. After all, he was of the Undying Blood Clan, possessing remarkably tenacious vitality.
However, although he had survived, he was severely injured, his aura becoming very weak. He immediately took a healing sacred pill.
"Martial Realm Prince, you were far too careless. You almost died at Zhang Ruochen's hands. If word of this gets out, won't countless people mock you?" Nine-Eyed Heavenly King sneered.
Hearing this, the Martial Realm Prince's expression turned extremely ugly, dark enough to drip water. As the proud prince of the Martial Realm, a descendant of a Great Saint of the Undying Blood Clan who had cultivated a Dao Domain, to be defeated by an Eight-Step Saint King's sword was undoubtedly a great humiliation.
"Let me kill him!"
Flames of rage burst from the Martial Realm Prince's eyes, and the chains in his hand slid as he prepared to attack Zhang Ruochen.
Xia Wenxin grabbed his hand and shook his head. "Don't touch him for now. This man still has some value to us. Spare his life for now; you can do whatever you want with him later."
"Fine, I'll spare his life for now. Once we've used up his value, I will drain every drop of his blood!" the Martial Realm Prince said through gritted teeth.
Since Xia Wenxin had spoken, he had to show respect. Among this group, the one not to be offended was this Xia Divine Son.
The others had wanted to mock the Martial Realm Prince further, but seeing Xia Wenxin step in, no one dared say anything more.
"The God-Slaying Cross Shield is truly a fine treasure. Xia Divine Son, your harvest from entering the Kunlun Realm is truly impressive!" the Long-Faced Divine Daughter said with great envy.
The others also showed envious looks. If this treasure weren't in Xia Wenxin's hands, they would have already tried to seize it.
A war weapon that had once nailed a god to death was something anyone would desire.
"This treasure must have been obtained by Xia Divine Son when you went to the Eastern Domain earlier. As far as I know, it was originally in Qi Sheng's hands," Nine-Eyed Heavenly King said with a faint smile.
Xia Wenxin nodded. "Indeed. To be honest, to obtain the God-Slaying Cross Shield, I had to sacrifice a Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription, but now it has all come back."
"Oh? The Heavenly Demon Stone Inscription is on Zhang Ruochen?" Nine-Eyed Heavenly King showed a surprised expression.
Xia Wenxin said, "Zhang Ruochen possesses an extraordinary number of treasures—more than many Great Saints. Let's suppress him first and retrieve the Sky-Soaring Sword. It will be very helpful for our assault on the Underworld King's Sword Grave."
With that, Xia Wenxin prepared to act, wanting to suppress Zhang Ruochen as quickly as possible to avoid any unexpected complications.
Unlike the Martial Realm Prince, he was always cautious in his actions and never negligent at any time.
Chi! Just as Xia Wenxin made his move, Zhang Ruochen suddenly moved. The Abyssal Ancient Sword thrust out with incredible speed. From such close range, Xia Wenxin had no time to dodge, and the sword tip pierced into his chest.
Fortunately, his reaction was fast enough; he shifted his body slightly, or else his heart would have been pierced by the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"How is this possible?"
Everyone, including Xia Wenxin, showed expressions of shock.
Zhang Ruochen had clearly been frozen by the God-Slaying Cross Shield—how could he still strike? This was completely beyond anyone's expectations.
Xia Wenxin retreated rapidly, blood gushing from his chest, but he didn't bother with it, instead fixing his gaze on Zhang Ruochen.
This time, even he had miscalculated. He had thought Zhang Ruochen was fish on the chopping block, never expecting he still had the strength to resist.
Swish! Zhang Ruochen withdrew his sword and stepped back, putting some distance between himself and the God-Slaying Cross Shield.
"That was close!"
Zhang Ruochen's mind churned, unable to calm down for a long time.
That had been extremely dangerous. The God-Slaying Cross Shield in Xia Wenxin's hands was far more powerful than when Qi Sheng had wielded it, especially its ability to freeze space, which had caught him off guard.
Fortunately, his mastery of the Way of Space had improved considerably. By deploying his Space Domain, he had barely managed to carve out a small space, resisting the suppression of the God-Slaying Cross Shield and regaining his freedom.
He had intended to catch Xia Wenxin off guard and kill him, but Xia Wenxin's vigilance was too high, and in the end, he had only managed to inflict a minor injury.
"So he was the one who put the Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram up for auction. He's from the Undying Blood Clan. Giving him the God-Slaying Cross Shield was a mistake!" Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Originally, he had felt the God-Slaying Cross Shield was uncontrollable and useless to keep, and he hadn't wanted the Heavenly Demon Blood Axe Diagram to fall into outsider hands, so he had traded it away. He never expected it to end up with a cultivator from the Undying Blood Clan.
Now he had seen the true power of the God-Slaying Cross Shield and could confirm it was either a Supreme Sacred Artifact or a Divine Relic Ancient Artifact, requiring a special secret technique to activate.
"As expected of the Heir of Time and Space, not easy to deal with. Even I, the Divine Son, almost fell into your trap. Unfortunately, you can't break free from the God-Slaying Cross Shield's suppression. You're destined to stay here today," Xia Wenxin said, his blood-colored long hair fluttering, a fierce killing intent flashing in his eyes.
Being stabbed by a sword had undoubtedly angered him.
Zhang Ruochen sneered coldly. "Is that so? That depends on whether you have the ability!"
As he spoke, he raised the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda with one hand, pouring sacred energy into it continuously. No matter how strong the enemy, he was unafraid—at worst, he would fight.
Nine-Eyed Heavenly King snorted. "Zhang Ruochen, even now, you dare to bluff? I advise you to surrender obediently and spare yourself some suffering. If I make a move, I'll make you wish you were dead."
"Hahaha, do you think I was raised on threats? Whatever you've got, bring it on. I'll take it all!" Zhang Ruochen laughed boldly.
On the surface, he appeared arrogant, but inwardly, he was thinking of a countermeasure.
His current situation was dire. Facing ten top-tier Saint Kings of the Undying Blood Clan, each giving him a feeling of unfathomable depth, he couldn't possibly win alone.
Especially since the enemy was using the God-Slaying Cross Shield to freeze space, rendering many of his techniques unusable. Even escaping was a major problem.
The enemy had clearly come prepared, knowing his situation well enough to counter almost all his methods.
For example, the Martial Realm Prince had cultivated the Gate of Destiny, which could restrain his Truth Path, greatly limiting his combat effectiveness.
"Unable to use spatial techniques, and you still dare to be so arrogant? You're asking for death!" A terrifying killing aura burst from Nine-Eyed Heavenly King's body as he pointed a finger at Zhang Ruochen.
A blood-colored beam of light shot forth, carrying an unstoppable force that seemed capable of annihilating everything.
Zhang Ruochen's gaze sharpened. He swung the Abyssal Ancient Sword repeatedly, unleashing fierce sword energy that collided with Nine-Eyed Heavenly King's finger force.
Staggering back a few steps, his blood surged within him, and he nearly spat blood.
"So strong!"
Zhang Ruochen was inwardly astonished.
In comparison, this Nine-Eyed Heavenly King was far more powerful than the Martial Realm Prince.
He estimated that this man's cultivation had likely reached the Heaven-Connecting Realm. One more step would bring him to the Threshold Realm, and then he would be close to breaking through to the Great Saint Realm.
In his perception, there were probably two others with cultivation levels comparable to Nine-Eyed Heavenly King, and the blood-haired man Xia Wenxin, who was suppressing space with the God-Slaying Cross Shield, seemed even stronger. As for the rest, they had all cultivated Dao Domains—none of them were weak.
"With my current strength, I can at most barely contend with a Dao Domain expert. To match a Heaven-Connecting Realm expert, I would need to break through to the Nine-Step Saint King realm. Once I retreat to the Sword Grave, I must immediately activate the Sundial and raise my cultivation level first," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself, feeling immense pressure.
His current strength wasn't weak, but it wasn't top-tier either. Not to mention Heaven-Connecting or Threshold Realm experts, even some Dao Domain experts could pose a significant threat to him.
The only way to change this situation was to break through his cultivation and close the gap.
"You managed to withstand one of my fingers—you do have some skill. But it's far from enough. Fall!" Nine-Eyed Heavenly King roared, striking out with a palm that surged with overwhelming blood energy.
"Not good."
Zhang Ruochen's expression changed drastically as he sensed a great threat.
A full-powered strike from a Heaven-Connecting Realm expert was no small matter; even an ordinary Dao Domain expert might not be able to withstand it.
Without any hesitation, he immediately launched the Azure Sky Floating Pagoda, activating its supreme power.
Boom! The Azure Sky Floating Pagoda was sent flying back, crashing into him and sending him flying as well.
"Now!"
The moment he was sent flying, Zhang Ruochen took out a scroll and activated it as quickly as possible.
Boom! The scroll released a terrifying spatial force, causing a large-scale collapse of space. The God-Slaying Cross Shield could no longer suppress the space in this area.
"Fooled!"
Nine-Eyed Heavenly King instantly realized he had been used.
Zhang Ruochen hadn't been unable to withstand his palm strike—at least not so easily. Instead, he had deliberately used the force of the palm to retreat farther, making it easier to use this trump card.